| Author | Message | ||
     Essjay |
Tuesday the 22nd I flew from Seattle WA to Harlingen Texas to pick up a 1999 Buell S3T which I had purchased from a private party out of the online CycleTrader. I had concerns, of course, that the bike would be as represented and fortunatly it was. The bike had just over 17000 on the odometer but was in excellent condition and had been well maintained. I gave the fellow a check for 6 grand and hopped aboard. That night I stayed in Harlingen, in the first of a string of cheap hotels. The next morning I loaded all my gear on and left for Tumwater WA. I had to make a quick stop on Padre Island out of Corpus Christi to say hi to my in-laws so that was my first destination. The weather was overcast and warm with a very high dew point. Heading north I encountered a stiff crosswind of about 20 knots, just a taste of what I would be battling for the rest of the trip. The bike was growling contentedly under me as I adjusted to the new riding position and seat. I discovered by the end of the first day that the stock factory seat is cleverly designed to inflict the maximum amount of pain after only 8 hours of riding. By the end of the trip I was unable to sit down and 2 days after the end I still have a sore butt. Leaving Padre Island, and heading NW on I-10, the crosswind became a tailwind and I made good time and mileage to San Antonio where I spent that night on the far side of town. Went to the local Wallmart and picked up some oil for the bike and a raincoat for me since the weather was very ominous with a tornado watch and very dark clouds. By morning the dryline had moved over me and I had clear riding weather with morning temps up in the low 50's. This day was a long and windy ride to El Paso with cross winds/headwinds of a steady 20-30 knots with gusts to 45 knots. I was wearing my half helmet with goggles and at times the wind was hitting me hard enough to tear the goggles off my helmet. The bike responded well to the turbulence, even when I had to use both lanes to maintain my balance. These windy conditions would be with me the entire trip and would later lead to my only accident of the trip. After checking into my motel in El Paso, I went around the corner to Barnetts Harley Davidson. There I picked up a t-shirt and lucked out, they were have a huge sale on helmets and I was able to pick up a full face fiberglass/aramid HD helmet for $99, marked down from $275. And it even fit! This helmet saved my face the rest of the trip as it protected me from huge insects, flying gravel, hail, rain, and wind. It also allowed me to travel at higher speeds. Out of El Paso I headed north on I-10 and I25 to Albuquerque where I headed west on I-40 to Hiway 666 north. This was very scenic with wide-open vistas of incredible rock formations and columns. The roads were lightly traveled and traffic was fast, as it was mostly just long straightaways. I did find out why my speedometer goes up to 140, not that I did that, but I was cruising steady at 120 for a while and had plenty of throttle left. But coming out of the canyonlands into Moab, Utah, I was back down to my cruising speed of 85 when the blue lights popped on beside me. I slowed down to the 65 speed limit and waited for the sheriff to make a u-turn and catch up with me. He was understanding and liked Harleys and so only wrote me a $50 ticket for 75 in a 65. This did tend to slow me down a bit for the rest of the trip through Utah. Coming through Moab I became part of a parade of classic Hot-rod muscle cars with the sidewalks lined with spectators. The Rod-Benders auto club was in town for their annual meet, and were parading the cars up and down main street. That was cool, but it slowed my progress. Finally I pulled into Green River, Utah, and checked into my room. This had been a long day, 750 miles in 11 hours and I was beat and by now was in pain everytime I sat down. (note to self: first upgrade for new bike- NEW SEAT!!!!) The next morning, Saturday, I headed north again on Hiway 191 towards Salt Lake City. By now I had gone from the mid 80's in Harlingen to the high 30's as I left Green River, Utah. I had on every layer I had packed for the trip and was comfortable, except for feeling like an overstuffed bear. My original plan called for skirting the mountains to the east of the Salt Lake and coming out at Ogden. But there were storm clouds ahead so I decided to head over Soldier pass on Hiway 6 into Salt Lake City so I would have the option of heading west into Nevada. Sure enough, It was raining in Salt Lake City and very dark to the north so I headed west on I-80 across the salt flats to Wendover, Nevada. After a fuel stop I headed up to the top of the hill going out of town and stopped to take a picture. After, just as I was going up to full extension on the footpeg to swing my leg through the baggage on the bike, a huge gust of wind hit me and the bike and we went over. I was way too high up to put my foot down and catch us from falling, instead I was only able to push off so the bike wouldn't catch my leg as it went over. I came down hard on my shoulder with my helmet bouncing off the gravel. The pain was extreme but my first thought was for the bike. I jumped up and tried to lift it but couldn't so I quickly unstrapped my tank bag and tail bag and pulled them off and was then able to lift the bike up. At least 3 cars went by while I was doing this and none stopped to see if I needed help. I looked the bike over and the only damage was scratches on the one saddlebag and a cracked front turn signal lens. Finally a car stopped and asked if I needed help, but I figured I was ok now and told them I was fine and would be ok. Next I went to put my bags back on the bike and this is when I realized that my shoulder was extremely injured as I was unable to use my right arm without excruciating pain in my shoulder. I managed to load the bike using my left arm only and mounted up to ride away. Made one stop in Wells Nevada to call home and let my wife in on the news and then continued on to Twin Falls, Idaho, altogether a couple hundred miles or so. I tracked down a cheap motel and checked in. Unloading the bike was so painful I knew I needed to go to a hospital and get checked out. At the hospital with x-rays it turned out that no bones were broken but I had AC seperation and torn ligaments. (went in today back at home for an mri and more x-rays and probably will have to have surgery…bummer). There wasn't much I could do except continue the trip in the morning with my bum shoulder and my by now extremely sore ass. In the morning my shoulder was so swollen and sore I had to lay on the floor to roll into my gear and put on my helmet by setting it down and pushing my head into it. Still, this was a great day of riding after I got into Oregon with warm sun and finally some roads with curves. In fact the best roads were the last 150 miles over White Pass on US12 and then the back roads to home in Tumwater. I found out that the first thing to drag on a corner is the toe of my boot. The bike is a hoot and I look forward to healing up and being able to ride all my favorite roads. Shane | ||
| Dave |
Great ride report Shane! DAve | ||
| Blake |
A great read. Thanks for sharing Shane! Hope your shoulder heals well and quickly. |
